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this is wjz tv, wjz hd, and wjz.com, baltimore. en >> from the city to the counties to your neighborhood, now it's complete coverage, it's wjz. maryland's news station. lighting the night. washington monument illuminated in a decade's old tradition. >> thousands gathered to kick off the holidays tonight. >> you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout. here's what people are talking about tonight. >> fire works, laser light, music, and food. wjz is live and we have all the holiday cheer. >> reporter: that's right. the monument lighting is one of baltimore's premier community events. this year's ceremony did not

disappoint. >> three, two, one! [ cheering and applause ] >> reporter: the mayor joins her fellow baltimoreians to ring in the 2012 holiday season. the 21st annual lighting of the washington monument is a time- honored city tradition featuring a fire works and laser light show. >> have you ever been that close to fire works? >> no. >> was that cool or scary? >> cool and scary at the same time. >> reporter: some 5000 people turned out for the big event. it included darius web. >> we saw the tree all decorated. i'm all in the christmas tree. this is my favorite month. >> you better watch out, you better not cry. >> reporter: it's the sights and sounds of the holiday season, baltimore style. with vendors selling food,

drinks, and merchandise. city leaders say the lighting ceremony is is also an economic boost for mt. vernon. >> it was awesome. this was amazing. >> this is my favorite holiday event. it puts me in the holiday spirit. >> reporter: it really does put you in the holiday spirit. we just talked with city transportation officials out here. still breaking down, but they assured eyewitness news everything should be back to normal by about midnight. there won't be any problems and the roads will be reopened for the morning rush hour. >> thank you. in washington, d.c. the national christmas tree is lighting up the sky tonight. the first family flipped is switch for the event and top musical acts played for the crowd. this year's tree is a giant blue spruce. new legal troubles for terrell suggs as he's ordered to turn over several guns. the line backer surrendered his

firearms because of a court order from his former girlfriend. he claimed suggs spilled bleach on her during an argument. williams and suggs have two children together. parents lash out at city schools after school employee is charged with rape and impregnating a 15-year-old girl. and whether he was ever qualified to even be in school. we have more from tonight's contentious meeting. >> reporter: parents say that shawn nolan was a school therapist and an administrator, he sat in on parent-teacher conferences, even suspended some students. it looks like he may have not been credentialed to do any of that. shawn nolan claimed to be a child therapist and dean of school support. but school officials say he was only hired and qualified to be

a hall monitor. >> how'd he get away with the things he's done? >> reporter: her son was councilled by nolan who had his own office here. she's furious the school didn't check his credentials. >> they didn't no anything about this man. >> reporter: parents discovered the lack of oversight after he was arrested and charged with impregnating a 15-year-old girl he was counseling. >> when i go to work and send my child to school, i send them up here to be protected, not to do anything you want to do. >> reporter: he worked here at the school from 2011 to november 28th of this year, two days after he was arrested. >> the school system is not saying how they failed and that's the big thing here. >> city schools is certainly looking into this matter. it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it given the pending legal aspects of this situation. >> reporter: union officials

admit it's a systemic issue. >> they are truly looking for who caused this problem. >> reporter: the school system now conducting an internal review. and school officials plan to bring in counselors to the school to talk to students about nolan. live at city school headquarters for wjz, eyewitness news. >> thank you. school officials say nolan was fingerprinted and passed a background check. the 15-year-old victim is not a student at hazelwood. accused in a sex abuse case, an aid at the maryland school for the deaf. legis say clarence taylor touched them inappropriately while he was working in the dorms. the school is not commenting. the man who police say grabbed an officer's gun and fired in a baltimore county hospital is now charged with attempted murder. he was handcuffed in the emergency room when he

struggled with an officer. he managed to get her gun and it fired grazing the officer's leg. he was subdued with pepper spray. it won't become legal until january 1st, but same-sex couples are lining up to get marriage licenses. the city of baltimore is opening its doors to those who want to be among the first. >> reporter: they were among the first couples to apply for a license in baltimore this morning. >> by the power vested in me by the state of new york, i now pronounce you married. >> reporter: the same-sex marriage movement in maryland got its biggest boost from new york when they took a page from andrew gromo and sponsored the same-sex marriage legislation. >> new york showed you could protect religious freedoms and you could also protect rights equally. that's what we're going to do. >> reporter: after the bill was passed and signed, it stalled

until winning voter approval last month. couples can marry the minute it becomes law january 1st. joanne king is a soon to be newlywed. >> me and my girlfriend, we've been together 15 years. she's been on me about getting married. we'll get married new year's eve. >> reporter: frank conaway says he'll do everything possible to accommodate the couples. >> we can't marry people until january 1st, but i'm going to see that if the court wants to open on the few yore's eve, i'll be here at 12:01 if they want to get married. i'll be happy to do it. >> reporter: no word if anyone's taking him up on that time. >> thank you. same-sex couples in washington state started picking up their marriage licenses today after similar legislation passed there. and another change in that state, the state of washington starting today it is legal to

smoke marijuana for recreational use. >> one! >> and hundreds of marijuana enthusiasts celebrated outside the space needle in seattle. new stipulates that though you can use pot in washington, you still can't grow or sell it. it's hard to imagine that weeks after hurricane sandy hit new york and new jersey, there are still people without power and some have not even been back to their homes. they're appealing to washington for help. we are in new jersey where it will take 10s of billions of dollars to rebuild. >> reporter: they're packing what they can salvage. >> 20 years of collectible cinderella stuff that my husband started collecting me for it ever since we started dating. >> reporter: their community took a direct hit from the storm which destroyed 80% of the town and left the famous

boardwalk many many pieces. police chief thomas boyd says with federal help, the town will rebuild. >> seaside heights, we're never leaving. we're staying. >> reporter: the governor worked closely with president obama after the storm. now he's gone to washington to asked directly for help. with damage like this stretching for miles, the governor says new jersey will need $37 billion to repair the damage. after meetings at the white house, christie visited members of congress. new york's governor did the same earlier this week. the president is committed to helping. >> he knows our work is not done anymore than the work in the states is done. >> reporter: president obama is expected to ask congress for $50 billion in storm relief. new york, new jersey, and connecticut say they need $83 billion. the deans say they'd be grateful for a straight answer. >> what should the federal government do? >> cut through the red tape and

get people in line with what they're doing. >> reporter: communities like this know they may have to fight for every dollar. in seaside heights, new jersey for wjz eyewitness news. >> for now, residents in seaside heights can only visit in the daylight. the dutchess is back in the palace. she left the hospital today. the future queen spent lee days being treated for severe morning sickness. kate smiled as she entered a car that whisked her to kensington palace for more rest. media from around the world are following her every move. it will be a long 6 months. coming up, an out of control driver nearly takes out a police officer. a student collapses at school and it is caught on tape. see the quick actions that

saved his life. i know you might have thought. >> gets the beltway battle going as he issues a challenge to prince george's county executive days before they meet up in a regional rivalry, next. mild air headed our way. complete forecast coming up next.

it is partly cloudy, 31 degrees in central maryland right now. the complete fore cost is coming up. panic in the streets of buenes aires. people tried to cover their mouths as they walked outside. office workers wore gas masks. the sulfur-like odor came from a container fire. it was only mildly toxic and posed no major health risk. subway and train service was suspended because of that cloud. the officer was standing outside his parked vehicle as a truck headed right toward him. the driver crashed into a support cable and stopped just short of hitting the police car. investigators say the woman had a combination of medication and controlled substances in her system. computer software

billionaire john mcafee is hospitalized in guatemala. he's wanted for questioning in regarding the killing of a neighbor. he sold his antivirus in the 1990s. he moved three years ago where he's clashed with neighbors and police. george zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against nbc for the way they edited his 911 call. it claims it makes him look like a racist. he's heard telling police that the person he's following looks suspicious and he looks black. nbc says there was no intent to portray zimmerman unfairly. he pleaded not guilty to second degree murder charges claiming self-defense. quick thinking in washington state helped save the life of a student. you see the 16-year-old fall to

the floor unconscious. scott rankin grabbed a defibrillator. the student suffers from a rare condition that caused his heart to stop. a few days between the battle between the ravens and the redskins. mary has more on the challenge issued by howard county executive through his counterpart in prince george's county. >> reporter: howard county executive ken allman entered his challenge to baker who governs deep into redskins territory. >> when we come down to fed-ex field and beat you this sunday, you will take my favorite jersey and you will wear it in the office on a purple friday. >> reporter: allman is doing a little trash talking saying he's sick of hearing about the redskins new quarterback, r.g .

iii. they will be at sunday's game together between the ravens and the redskins. expect tension. maybe not on the scale of the steelers, ravens emotional rivalry, but this regional rivalry is real. >> it will be kind of real if we had a ravens, redskins super bowl. that would be kind of crazy. it will be quite the game. >> reporter: baltimore leads the rivalry # 3-1. in the first match up in 1997, the ravens defeated the redskins 20-17. three years later, they beat us 10-3. in our last two meetings, the ravens have won 17-10. in 2008, 24-10. ravens wide receiver tori smith grew up watching the red skins and some of his extended families are fans. >> it's all fun. i'm looking forward to it.

>> reporter: ken allman says if the redskins win on sunday, he'll go ahead and wear a jersey of r.g . iii all day monday. >> and the ravens ultimate destination, of course, super bowl 47 in new orleans february 3rd. you'll only be able to see that game here on wjz and there will be unprecedented coverage in the week leading up to it. from cbs morning to the talk to the evening news with scott pelley, it will be a super bowl week like never before. >> can't think about that yet. i have to get through to the game here sunday. i have a niece that's a steelers fan, another niece who's a redskins fan. >> let's just hope we get there. >> that's right. let's take a look at temperatures and conditions. right now it is freezing out there. i'm not kidding.

it's 31. but there's no wind at all. the dew point is coming up. the temperature went up 1 degree since last hour. this is a slight warm up headed our way. tomorrow we'll be warmer than today. holding steady right now. currently, warmer out to the west. that's where the warm air is begin together move in first. 36 in oakland. that's a little unusual compared to if 31 here. ocean city, 31. elkton only at 30. locally, temperatures around the freezing mark to the mid- 30s. it will get a lot warmer this weekend. a southerly wind will bring in milder air. an area of low pressure is is causing rain across the valley. little snow across northern wisconsin and upper michigan. that's pretty much gone. light rain, just a little bit of light rain and a weak system down to our south will bring clouds overnight. a little bit of light rain or drizzle is possible. if this batch of rain gets into

far western areas early enough, temperatures around 31-32 degrees could be just a tiny bit. it only takes a tiny bit of light freezing drizzle, particularly in central pennsylvania. it's possible some areas could see a bit of light, freezing drizzle. after that, things warm up. mild air right here. look at this. minneapolis is 30. there's no real cold air until you get into canada. mild air coming in the next couple of days. risk of shower activity on sunday. another system coming in from the west. going to bring us a few more showers, particularly later in the day. south winds 5-10 knots and the bay is now 47 degrees. tonight, decreasing clouds.

warming up to 52 tomorrow. shower in some places in the afternoon, the next time shower possible saturday night. 61. 55 on sunday. 60 on monday. could be rain in between. and cooler, 48 on tuesday. >> thank you, bob. coming up, the ravens go to great lengths to get ready for the redskins. >> the secret weapon that's key to practice

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a lot riding on this game sunday, not to mention county executives wearing jerseys. >> solving the mystery of the opposing quarterback. charlie batch, the washed up backup, he led the steelers to a surprise winner and baltimore has to face redskins rookie robert griffin the third.

a year ago he won the heisman trophy and now he runs the college-style option offense. a tricky attack that utilizes his outstanding speed as a runner. how do the ravens prepare? they thought they would let back-up qb taylor practice against the ravens defense to imlate griffin. they have something better. dennis dixon, a former steelers back up who they signed three weeks ago. he ran the tricky option offense at oregon. it's him, not taylor who's proven to be the perfect qb to prepare the ravens for robert griffin. >> dennis dixon. tyrod's good. dixon's great. he ran at oregon. he's doing a great job for us. dennis is up. >> ravens line backer suggs participated in practice wearing jersey number four

today. suggs has a game-time decision sunday because of a torn bicep muscle in his right arm. a battle you can see right here on wjz sunday at 1:00 p.m. plus our post-game coverage with highlights and interviews after the game wjz sunday. the orioles return from baseball's winter meeting after bargain shopping. they reached contract terms with nate mcclout yesterday. os coming off their first play off season in 15 years. while some find that frustrating, the gm reiterated his plan does not include excessive spending. >> we can feel a good, competitive team within the market. we have a lot more depth to our pitching staff which is the key to be competitive. we have young pippers on the horizon. we have something to talk about

with our team as it's constituted. >> the os payroll will rise to $100 million because of arbitration coming to players already on the roster. >> thank you. have you started shopping? just waiting for inspiration to strike. and there it is! done. genius. give the gift of dunkin' coffee. get two pounds for $14.99, only at dunkin' restaurants. america runs on dunkin'.

here you go little man. [ humming ] [ babbling ] the cheerios bandit got you again? [ both laugh ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios ♪ this is how mommy learned... ...and now... you! [ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios ♪ [ female announcer ] for those who love sweets your season is here. let's just call it the baking time of year. you need special ingredients. you need the staples. that's a given. you need safeway sugar for just $1.97. and that magic thing that makes everyone want another -- only $2.99 for land o'lakes butter.

and when hands get messy quite surely they'll say, "yum! wow! yay! what a sweeter holiday." safeway. ingredients for life. in orlando, a disney favorite shows off its new look. mickey mouse was on hand for the opening of the expands fantasy land. the park has doubled in size after a $425 million renovation. some of the popular rides include a play room for younger visitors waiting in line. beer and wine being served for the first time inside the magic

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